It is pretty unlikely that people will not know of the French Open tennis championship, because it is a competition which is an annual topic of conversation. In French the name of the competition is ‘Les Internationaux de France de Roland Garros’ or ‘Tournoi de Roland Garros’. This tournament, which lasts for roughly a fortnight is held in Paris at the Roland Garros Stadium, from which it got its name.
The French Open is one of the most publicised and broadcast sports events in the whole world of sport and many VIP’s attend it. The attendees of the game are fanatics who await with baited breath every stroke, especially when there is a close struggle between the two teams, trying their best to win. TV viewers actually get a feeling of being there live too.
The French Open tennis championship comes in second on the annual schedule of the Grand Slam tournaments and its history goes back to the year of 1891 when it became an international competition. In those days, it was called the ‘International Championship of Tennis of France’ or ‘Championat de France International de Tennis’ in French.
First of all, only players that were registered or licensed in France were allowed to participate in this competition, but things took a different turn in 1925, when the French open tennis tournament finally was accessible to foreign players. Until 1912, the court the players used was made of crushed red brick dust. Actually the crushed brick was formed into a sort of red clay that was spread over the ground, which, until then, would have been a green lawn.
The popularity of the French Open tennis tournament held at Roland Garros dates back to a competition between the Philadelphia Four (Rene Lacoste, Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet and Jacques Brugnon) who won the Davis Cup in 1927. It triggered the desire in the French to defend their cup in future competitions. This new tournament designed to bring back home the cup was held on a stadium named after the World War I pilot Roland Garros and since then the name has stuck.
The word ‘open’ became has been used from 1968, when the tournament was open to both amateurs and professionals alike who wanted to prove their skills at tennis. Since then, the French Open tennis tournament has also introduced some novel ideas in prizes.
Beside the regular winners’ prizes, they also award a ‘Prix Orange’ for the most correct and press friendly player, a ‘Prix Citron’ for the player with the strongest personality and a ‘Prix Burgeon’ for the one that turns out to be the revelation of the tennis year.
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